Sept23-2011-859 Special Rapporteur Report

8/3/2019 Sept23-2011-859 Special Rapporteur Report

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United Nations A/66/374

General Assembly Distr.: General23 September 2011

Original: English

11-51218 (E) 111011

*1151218*

Sixty-sixth session

Agenda item 69 (c)Promotion and protection of human rights: human

rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs

and representatives

The situation of human rights in the Islamic Republicof Iran

Note by the Secretary-General

Summary

The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the

General Assembly the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of humanrights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, submitted in accordance with

Human Rights Council resolution 16/9.

The Special Rapporteur officially assumed responsibility for the mandate on

1 August 2011 and has since notified the Secretariat that, owing to his lateappointment, he would not be in a position to present a substantive report, but would

focus instead on presenting his proposed methodology and cataloguing the mostrecent trends in the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This would emphasize the need for greater transparency and cooperation fromthe Islamic Republic of Iran.


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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of humanrights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

ContentsPage

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

II. Proposed methodology of work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

III. Human rights situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

A. Treatment of civil society actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. Political activists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72. Journalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93. Student activists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114. Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125. Lawyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136. Environmentalists Save Lake Urmia Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

B. Freedom of assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14C. Womens rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15D. Religious and ethnic minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16E. Capital punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19F. Detention for relations with foreign entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

IV. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20


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I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution16/9, which establishes the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation ofhuman rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the first country mandate of the

Human Rights Council on the Islamic Republic of Iran since the termination in 2002of the mandate of the former Commission on Human Rights. The resolution

mandates the Special Rapporteur to: (a) submit an interim report to the GeneralAssembly at its sixty-sixth session and (b) to submit a report to the Human Rights

Council for consideration at its nineteenth session. It also calls upon theGovernment of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with the mandate

holder and to permit access to visit the country as well as provide all necessaryinformation to enable the fulfilment of the mandate.

2. The President of the Human Rights Council appointed the Special Rapporteuron the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 17 June 2011.

Mr. Shaheed officially commenced his mandate on 1 August 2011, at which time hewrote to the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran to seek their cooperation in

the discharge of his mandate. The Special Rapporteur requested an informal meetingwith the Ambassador in July 2011 and also offered to travel to Switzerland during

the month of August to meet with him prior to the submission of the present report,but was unsuccessful in scheduling either meeting. In a press release dated 3 August2011, the Special Rapporteur appealed to the Government to extend its full

cooperation to the carrying out of his mandate and stressed that the establishment ofthe new mandate provided an opportunity for the Islamic Republic of Iran to engage

on a range of human rights issues that had been raised by the internationalcommunity. On 19 September 2011, in a letter to the Special Rapporteur, the

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations atGeneva, Ambassador Seyed Mohammad Reza Sajjadi, expressed a willingness to

exchange views and discuss his methodology of work. A letter requesting a countryvisit in late November was transmitted to the Iranian authorities on 19 September

2011. The Special Rapporteur looks forward to a positive response to that request,as it would further signal the cooperative and constructive intentions of the Islamic

Republic of Iran.

3. The Special Rapporteur undertook a private visit to Geneva prior to the

commencement of his mandate in July 2011 and a formal visit in early September2011. He met with a number of stakeholders, including the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights and a number of reputable internationalnon-governmental organizations (NGOs) and country delegations, some of whichsupported the mandate and some of which did not.

4. The present report outlines the methodology that will guide the Special

Rapporteurs work throughout the mandate and presents the focus of his work. TheSpecial Rapporteur notes that a separate report of the Secretary-General ondevelopments related to the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

since September 2010 (A/66/361) will also be submitted to the General Assembly atits sixty-sixth session. Without prejudice to the matters that he wishes to raise with

the Iranian authorities, the Special Rapporteur shares the concerns addressed in thereport of the Secretary-General, as well as the recommendations contained therein.

Accordingly, the present report includes a section on recent developments withregard to the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but focuses on


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cases and issues raised directly with the Special Rapporteur and on developments

following the session of the Human Rights Council.

5. The Special Rapporteur welcomes statements that have been attributed to

various Iranian functionaries about the countrys interest in cooperating with the

United Nations human rights system, including the standing invitation issued tothematic special procedures and the proposed visit to the Islamic Republic of Iranby the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as this would provide

an opportunity for cooperation between the human rights machinery and the Iranianauthorities through contact at the highest level. The Special Rapporteur hopes to

have an opportunity to visit first, with a view to helping to make the HighCommissioners visit as substantive as possible. The Special Rapporteur also notes

that a number of urgent appeals made by various thematic special rapporteursremain unaddressed by the Iranian authorities. He fully shares the concernsaddressed in those appeals, and regrets that no visit by a mandate holder has taken

place since 2005.

6. The Special Rapporteur firmly believes that the establishment of the currentmandate provides for a more coordinated engagement with the Iranian authorities on

a range of human rights issues that have been raised by the international community.The country mandate is also an opportunity to facilitate a deeper, country-specificunderstanding of the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in its

unique cultural and historical contexts. It is also an opportunity to advance thecurrent efforts being made to address the challenges of the Islamic Republic of Iran

in an incremental and holistic manner. The Special Rapporteur also hopes that theIslamic Republic of Iran will view his role as a secure and legitimate space in which

to take steps to comply with its international obligations, as well as an opportunityto address the areas of concern communicated to the country during its interactions

with the international community on human rights issues.

7. The Special Rapporteur will, therefore, continue to appeal to the Islamic

Republic of Iran to extend its full cooperation to the fulfilment of the mandate.

Engagement with the country mandate holder can only lessen the potential forpoliticization, over which the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly expressedconcern. However, insufficient cooperation will continue to heighten the concern ofthe international community and will reduce the potential for a positive and

constructive dialogue on these issues.

II. Proposed methodology of work

8. The Special Rapporteur will be guided by the principles of impartiality,

independence and transparency, with the explicit objectives of clarification,verification, and cooperation in the implementation of the human rights obligations

of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Special Rapporteur believes that the exercise of

his mandate should be free from politicization and be guided solely by the interestof assisting the Islamic Republic of Iran to meet its international obligations in anincremental and transparent manner.

9. The primary focus of the Special Rapporteurs efforts will be to seek thecooperation of the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the interest of fair

and accurate reporting on its human rights situation. In this regard, the SpecialRapporteur will continue to express interest in undertaking field visits to the


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country, meet with relevant official delegations of the country and seek information

from the Iranian authorities on matters that are being addressed by the Secretary-General and the human rights machinery, especially those relating to issues

highlighted in various resolutions of the General Assembly and the Human RightsCouncil.

10. The Special Rapporteur has sought and will continue to seek the cooperationof a number of Member States, including members of the Human Rights Council,

and to request their support in facilitating his work. Although some of thosecountries are not necessarily supporters of country mandates, they uphold the

legitimacy of Council decisions and the importance of international cooperation inthe promotion and protection of human rights. The Special Rapporteur intends to

remain in close contact with those countries and to seek their support in encouragingthe Islamic Republic of Iran to enable the independent examination of the veracityof claims about its human rights situation. The Special Rapporteur hopes that

members of the General Assembly will encourage the Islamic Republic of Iran andother countries to extend their cooperation to his efforts to gather relevant and

accurate information.

11. The Special Rapporteur has been contacted by a number of Iranian humanrights and civil society actors, as well as international organizations, concerning thehuman rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has conducted a number

of consultations with them. Those testimonies and issues are included in the presentreport. The Special Rapporteur will seek the cooperation of the Iranian authorities in

examining these cases and will report on developments in his next report.

12. The Special Rapporteur believes that the outcome of the universal periodic

review of the Human Rights Council, which examined the situation in the IslamicRepublic of Iran in February 2010, provides a sound basis for collaboration between

himself and the Iranian authorities. In that regard, he could contribute to the effortsof the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement the 123 recommendations of the

review, which it agreed to accept for implementation with transparency and with the

support of the international community. The Special Rapporteur will also seek toengage with the Islamic Republic of Iran on those recommendations that it rejected,especially in the light of international human rights law. Moreover, issueshighlighted in reports to treaty bodies, in various reports of the Secretary-General

and thematic mandate holders, as well as in resolutions of the General Assembly andthe Human Rights Council, will constitute a major part of the Special Rapporteurs

agenda for engagement with Iran.

13. The Special Rapporteur will also work in collaboration with the other thematic

mandate holders on urgent appeals and other communications and will considergenerating his own appeals and communications as necessary. He notes that, while a

number of communications remain unanswered, there have been many instances inwhich the Islamic Republic of Iran has responded, and he will seek to increase the

level of communication with the Government on matters of interest to the HumanRights Council and the General Assembly.

14. The Special Rapporteur believes that the mandate also entails an importantadvocacy role in relation to the international obligations of the country concerned

and will give considerable attention to collaboration with Iranian human rightsdefenders and civil society, in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special

Procedures Mandate Holders of the Human Rights Council. He will also promote


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efforts to generate non-political discussion, advocacy, publicity and study of the

human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran through civil societyinteraction and engagement of legal and academic expertise. He also intends to

maintain a high media profile, not only to amplify the efforts of the Iranianauthorities to meet their international obligations, but also to highlight the

grievances of those who feel victimized. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur alsobelieves in maintaining a balance between constructive engagement with Iranian

authorities and media advocacy in order to demonstrate good faith and commitmentin investigating allegations of human rights abuses.

III. Human rights situation

15. The Islamic Republic of Iran ratified the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights on 24 June 1975, without reservations, thereby committing itself to

the promotion and protection of the guarantees therein. These include freedom ofexpression, assembly, association and religion, all of which are recognized as

integral to the promotion and protection of democratic ideals.

16. The Covenant also provides for the right to due process, legal assistance and

humane treatment of detainees, and prohibits the arbitrary arrest and detention ofindividuals. International law also secures equal rights of women, stipulating that

State parties must ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of allcivil and political rights contained in article 3 of the Covenant. Those rights also

include the right to be elected by and participate in free and fair elections. Likewise,the Covenant protects the rights of minorities, where they exist in a country, bystipulating, in article 27, that minorities shall not be denied the right, in community

with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess andpractise their own religion or to use their own language.

17. In line with these human rights safeguards, articles 23 to 27 of the Constitutionof the Islamic Republic of Iran provide for freedom of expression, assembly and

association as well as the freedom to practise ones religion. In addition, the rightsof the accused and detained are protected by the Constitution in articles 32 and 35,

wherein it is stated that charges with reasons for accusation must, without delay, becommunicated and explained to the accused in writing, and a provisional dossier

must be forwarded to the competent judicial authorities within a maximum of24 hours.

18. A number of individuals and organizations provided the Special Rapporteurwith first-hand testimonies, the preponderance of which presents a pattern of

systemic violations of the aforementioned fundamental human rights. In that regard,and without prejudice to subsequent communications, the most urgent issues that

have been brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur include multifariousdeficits in relation to the administration of justice, certain practices that amount to

torture, cruel, or degrading treatment of detainees, the imposition of the deathpenalty in the absence of proper judicial safeguards, the status of women, the

persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and the erosion of civil and politicalrights, in particular, the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders andcivil society actors.

19. Furthermore, reports frequently communicated the use of physical and

psychological mistreatment and torture for the purposes of inducing


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self-incrimination. In that regard, several personal interviews revealed that

individuals were often held in solitary confinement for long periods during theinvestigative phases of their cases. All of those interviewed with regard to their

detention reported the consistent use of blindfolds when being transferred fromsolitary confinement, as well as during their interrogations. Several persons reported

being threatened, beaten, insulted or intimidated by threats against family members,and they speculated that those actions were intended to encourage admission to

knowledge of or association with persons reportedly unknown to the detainees.Incidences of the arrest and/or intimidation of family members were also oftenreported.

20. Charges brought against human rights defenders, as well as civil society and

religious actors, include: (a) acting against national security; (b) participating in anillegal gathering; (c) insulting the Supreme Leader; and (d) spreading propagandaagainst the regime. The latter charge appears in a significant number of cases

discussed below.

21. The majority of reports also highlight exorbitant bail requirements, reportedlytotalling between $10,000 and $500,000, to guarantee the appearance before the

court of those arrested for activities pertaining to civil, political or human rights.Defendants and/or their guarantors must often furnish deeds or sign promissorynotes that are later used to garnish the wages of guarantors. All reports maintain that

deeds used to guarantee appearances were never returned to the guarantors, evenafter acquittals or final convictions. Since these parties no longer possess the deeds

to their properties, they are deprived of financial control of their assets, whichproduces a disturbing level of persistent punishment, even beyond the conclusion of

the cases.

22. Moreover, several reports allege that prosecutors are aware of the sentence to

be imposed prior to the defendants appearance in court for sentencing and ofteninform the defendants accordingly. Those reports contain speculations that this

reflects a lack of independence of judges in such cases, which is of deep concern to

the Special Rapporteur.

23. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged by the announcement by Iranianauthorities on 28 August 2011 of their intention to pardon 100 political prisoners

accused of various crimes, including participation in the 2009 protests. He hopesthat this step, together with the review of the cases of human rights defenders,

lawyers, journalists, womens rights activists, artists and other civil society actorshighlighted in the present report, will advance the Governments progress inimproving its human rights situation. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur requests the

Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide him with information aboutthe process and the criteria employed to grant amnesty to the aforementioned

individuals. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged by the release from custody, on21 September 2011, of two hikers from the United States of America.

A. Treatment of civil society actors

1. Political activists

24. Reports about the detention conditions and denial of the rights of political

leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, as well as their wives, Zahra


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Rahnavard and Fatemeh Karroubi, are deeply disturbing. All four individuals were

placed under a form of house arrest by the Government in February 2011 inresponse to their calls for protest in solidarity with pro-democracy activists

throughout the region.

25. A description of Mr. Mousavis detention conditions was conveyed to theSpecial Rapporteur during an interview by a person close to his campaign on26 August 2011. The witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, reported that,

despite the fact that no formal charges had been brought against Mr. Mousavi or hiswife, the conditions surrounding their confinement to their home had led

Mr. Mousavi and Mrs. Rahnavard to consider themselves prisoners of the State. Theindividuals have reportedly been unable to communicate freely with family or

friends since their detention. The witness reported that all methods ofcommunication had been either destroyed or removed from the couples home. Healso stated that, as at two weeks prior to the interview, the couple had been allowed

only a few closely monitored visits with family members over the previous sixmonths. It was reported that family members were thoroughly searched, and it was

speculated that their visits were recorded. Moreover, the couple have reportedly

been deprived of control over their health care, access to publications, privacy andthe ability to live a normal life. The harassment and intimidation of Mr. Mousavisfamily members was also conveyed. The witness stated that Mr. Mousavis family

was deeply concerned about his health, as he had reportedly lost a significantamount of weight. However, despite several incidents of discomfort that required

medical attention, physicians who have treated Mr. Mousavi have reported that hishealth was not critical.

26. An interview with a close colleague of Mr. Karroubi who wishes to remainanonymous was conducted on 23 August 2011. The witness conveyed a first-hand

account of violence directed against Mr. Karroubi and his staff, as well as theconditions of Mr. Karroubis house arrest. It was reported that all of Mr. Karroubisphone lines were disconnected and that authorities had entered Mr. Karroubis home

and removed his television and all of his books and files. Mrs. Karroubi was notallowed to keep her medical appointments, the couples medication was confiscated

and Mr. Karroubi has not been allowed access to the family doctor, despiterespiratory issues. It was also reported that Mr. Karroubi had been allowed outside

for fresh air only once for 10 minutes during his 186 days of house arrest. Thewitness also stated that Mr. Karroubis privacy had been compromised, since

intelligence officers and cameras transmitting images to an unknown location hadmonitored all the hallways and rooms of the first location used for the couples

detention. It was further reported that Mr. Karroubi had been allowed only six visitsfrom his family since his house arrest, that visitors were fully searched upon

entering and leaving the house and that agents surrounded the couple for theduration of the visits. Mr. and Mrs. Karroubi were removed from their home andtaken to separate locations on 16 July and 1 August 2011, respectively. While

Mrs. Karroubi is reportedly no longer under house arrest, Mr. Karroubi wastransferred and detained in a two-room office and has had no contact with his family

since 16 July. Reports that six agents consistently occupy both rooms and that ateam of psychiatrists also surrounds Mr. Karroubi for the purpose of coercing

televised confessions are deeply disturbing to the Special Rapporteur. It was alsoreported that members of both Mr. Mousavis and Mr. Karroubis families have been

harassed, intimidated and/or briefly detained.


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27. Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, political activist and Secretary-General of the Iran

Democratic Front, was arrested on 27 December 2009 and transferred to Evinprison. He was reportedly confined to a solitary cell and tortured. In October 2010,

he was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and 74 lashes for gathering andcolluding against national security and insulting the Supreme Leader. After

protesting against the execution of five political prisoners, Mr. Tabarzadi wastransferred to Rajaee Shahr prison. He wrote a letter from prison asking the

international courts to review his grievances against the Supreme Leader, AyatollahAli Khamenei. In April 2011, Mr. Tabarzadi, along with other prisoners, went on ahunger strike to protest prison conditions.

2. Journalists

28. In a letter to the Special Rapporteur dated 17 August 2011, the Committee toProtect Journalists stated that 34 journalists had been detained as at the end of 2010.

They wrote that journalists were often subjected to exorbitant bail, at times totallingas high as $500,000. One such case is that of Ahmad Zeidabadi, reformist, journalist

and columnist for Rooz Online, and the Secretary-General of the Iranian Alumni

Association, Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat, who was arrested on 14 June 2009.Mr. Zeidabadis attorney and wife reported that he was detained for more than two

years and denied furlough for the duration of his detention. On 4 August 2011,Mr. Zeidabadi was granted a 48-hour furlough on the condition that he post

$500,000 bond. Mr. Zeidabadi was sentenced on 2 January 2010 to six yearsimprisonment, five years exile in Gonabad and a lifetime ban on social and political

activities on charges of attempting to implement a velvet revolution.Mr. Zeidabadi has reportedly spent 141 days in solitary confinement, suffered

difficult interrogations and was violently coerced to incriminate himself.1

29. Mohammad Davari, winner of the Committee to Protect JournalistsInternational Freedom Award and editor-in-chief of the Saham News website,

videotaped statements from detainees at the Kahrizak detention centre who

indicated that they had been raped, abused and tortured. This, among other reasons,reportedly led to the closing of the detention centre in July 2009 amid public uproar.Mr. Davaris work reportedly led to his arrest and detention in Evin prison in

September 2009, and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment for mutinyagainst the regime. The sentence was recently increased to six years because of

Mr. Davaris inability to pay a $5,000 fine for his participation in a teachers protestin February and March 2006. His mother has written to the Secretary-General,

communicating that her son has endured torture while in custody. Mr. Davari wasreportedly tortured for the purpose of soliciting televised confessions against MehdiKarroubi, a former presidential candidate. It is reported that Mr. Davari is being

held in solitary confinement and has not been allowed to have contact with hisfamily for more than eight months.

30. Accounts regarding the detention and death of an Iranian journalist and socialactivist, Reza Hoda Saber, raise further concerns about arbitrary arrest and detention

and the treatment of civil society actors. Mr. Saber is reported to have suffered aheart attack following a hunger strike at Evin prison and died on 12 June 2011.

There are concerns that prison authorities may have denied proper medical attention

__________________

1 Committee to Protect Journalists, Iran must work toward improving press freedom, 17 August

2011, available at www.cpj.org/2011/08/post-3.php#more.


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to Mr. Saber, who is reported to have complained of chest pains for hours before he

was given access to medical care. Mr. Saber had been on a hunger strike since2 June, after Haleh Sahabi, daughter of Ezzatollah Sahabi, a nationalist-religious

leader, died of a heart attack after a confrontation with security forces at her fathersfuneral (see para. 51). Information received by the Special Rapporteur suggests that

prisoners use hunger strikes as a means of protesting against prison conditions,arbitrary detention and/or discriminatory sentences. At the time of writing at least

15 prisoners were reported to be on a hunger strike, some of whom were in criticalcondition.

31. Issa Saharkhiz, journalist, political activist and former head of the NationalPress Department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, is being detained

at Rajaee Shahr prison on charges of insulting the Supreme Leader and makingpropaganda against the regime. Mr. Saharkhiz was arrested on 3 August 2009 andsentenced to three years in prison, along with a one-year ban on foreign travel and a

five-year prohibition on journalistic activities. Mr. Saharkhiz was informed on5 August 2011 that he had been sentenced to an additional two years in prison for

his prior journalistic activities.

32. Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger, was arrested on 13 December 2009 andheld in solitary confinement for almost 11 months in Evin prison in ward 2-A.Mr. Maleki was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 5 October 2010 on charges of

membership in the Iran Proxy Network, insulting the Supreme Leader andinsulting the President. Mr. Malekis attorney announced that his client had health

issues that required medical attention outside the prison. On 15 March 2010,Kayhan newspaper published an article in which Mr. Maleki was accused of, interalia, accepting money from Western countries, helping political figures escape

Iran and heading political gangs. Mr. Maleki is reportedly being held in ward350 in Evin prison.

33. Masoud Bastani, a journalist, was arrested on 5 July 2009 for activities on theJomhouriyat website, which openly supported Mr. Mousavi during the 2009

presidential elections, as well as collusion, creating riots, and propaganda againstthe regime. Mr. Bastani reportedly spent three months in solitary confinement andwas beaten by a prison staff member during a family visit in June 2011, when he

asked for a few more minutes to say goodbye to his mother and wife. As a result,Bastani suffered nausea and disorientation leading to his transfer to the hospital,

where he reportedly spent a day under observation for brain damage. Afterretracting his complaint for the beating, he was transferred from a solitary cell to the

general ward.

34. Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, a journalist who contributed to reformist

newspapers and was the author of a blog, was arrested in June 2009 and is serving afive-year sentence for actions against national security. In a letter describing his

prison conditions, Mr. Amouee and several other prisoners wrote that most of them

had been subjected to inhumane conditions, including the common use of solitaryconfinement in cells measuring approximately 2.2 by 1.6 m (6.6 by 4.8 ft). Theletter conveyed that they were subject to severe beatings and mistreatment,

including the shoving of their heads into toilet bowls, repeated threats and the use ofprolonged sleep deprivation.

35. Mohamamd Sadiq Kaboudvand, founder of the Human Rights Organization ofKurdistan (HROK) and a journalist, was arrested in June 2007 and held in Evin


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prison, where he was placed in solitary confinement for five months. He was

sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of acting against national securitythrough establishment [of] HROK, widespread propaganda against the system by

disseminating news, opposing Islamic penal laws by publicizing punishmentssuch as stoning and executions and advocating on behalf of political prisoners.

Mr. Kaboudvand has since suffered from a series of chronic and acute medicalproblems often not attended to by medical staff, including two strokes in 2010.

Mr. Kaboudvands wife stated that her husband had told her that he had been seenby a neurologist after the first stroke, but that he had not been examined thoroughlyand no tests had been administered. She also reported that her husband had

maintained that the attending physician had prescribed a series of pills to be takendaily instead, but had not given any details about their name, their prescribed use or

their possible side effects.

36. Taghi Rahmani, journalist, author, member of the Nationalist Religious

Activists Council and an active member of Mehdi Karroubis 2009 electioncampaign, was arrested on 9 February 2011 after unidentified security agents

reportedly broke into his home violently and detained him in the presence of his

wife and two young children. According to his wife, Narges Mohammadi, Iranianauthorities have not given any information about his charges to date.

37. Keyvan Samimi, managing editor of the now-defunct Nameh magazine, wasarrested on 14 June 2009. He was sentenced to six years in prison and a lifetime ban

on political, social and cultural activities on charges of membership in illegalgroups, including the National Religious Coalition, National Peace Council and

the Committee to Investigate Arbitrary Detentions. An appeals court upheld hisprison sentence but reduced the ban on his activities to 15 years. Mr. Samimi has

developed liver disease in prison, but prison authorities have reportedly refused togive him permission to have medical treatment outside prison. Mr. Samimi has also

been reportedly subjected to ill-treatment on numerous occasions during his time incustody, and in February 2010 local activists reported that he had been transferred to

solitary confinement after he objected to substandard conditions. It was reportedthat his family visits were also cancelled.

3. Student activists

38. Three interviews with student activists who wish to remain anonymous were

conducted. They reported that they faced arrest and intimidation and weresometimes subjected to beatings and torture for their ties to legally registered

student activist organizations. Additional cases were also communicated to theSpecial Rapporteur by reputable NGOs.

39. Student activist Abdollah Momeni was arrested on 21 June 2009 and sentencedto 4 years and 11 months in prison for his participation in the 2009 protests. It was

reported that Mr. Momeni was placed in solitary confinement for almost 200 days,

subjected to physical and psychological abuse and coerced into making a televisedconfession. In a letter to Ayatollah Khamanei, Mr. Momeni wrote that his

interrogator had strangled him to the point of unconsciousness and that authoritiesfrequently shoved his head into toilets. Momeni also reported that he had been

deprived of furlough and family visits after the submission of that letter. Newcharges were filed against Mr. Momeni on 27 July 2011 for allegedly writing the

aforementioned letter. Mr. Momenis wife also reported that her husband needed


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medical treatment outside of prison, but that he had been denied proper medical

care. Mr. Momeni has yet to be sentenced, however, and he has not been givenfurlough since his detention.

40. Ramin Parchami, a graduate student of film directing and acting, was arrested

during the 14 February 2011 street protests. The presiding judge sentencedMr. Parchami to one year in prison on charges of acting against national securitythrough participation in an illegal gathering, attempting to videotape and

disrupting public order. The artist, who supports the Green Movement, wasdetained in a solitary cell at the Intelligence Ministrys ward 209 inside Evin prison

for more than two months. He was then transferred to ward 350.

41. Ali Malihi, student activist, journalist, and member of the Tahkim-e Vahdat

Alumni Association, was arrested on 2 February 2010 and convicted on charges ofcongregation and collusion against the regime, propaganda against the regime,

participation in illegal gatherings, publication of falsehoods and insulting thePresident. His four-year sentence on those charges was upheld in July 2011.

42. Arash Sadeghi, a student activist, was denied the right to continue his higher

education, reportedly as a result of his involvement in Mir-Hossein Mousavispresidential campaign. Mr. Sadeghi was first arrested on 9 July 2009 during a raid ofTehran Universitys campus and released after 45 days. Mr. Sadeghi was arrested

again in the aftermath of the 27 December 2009 Ashura Day protests, and releasedin April 2010. He was summoned to Evin prison court in November 2010 andarrested and sentenced to five years in prison for assembly and collusion against

the regime. Sadeghi was reportedly hospitalized in April 2011 due to a hungerstrike that led to his slipping into a coma. Mr. Sadeghi also reportedly suffers from

other medical problems as a result of repeated beatings and torture, including a lunginfection and limb paralysis.

4. Artists

43. Jafar Panahi, a highly acclaimed Iranian film director and winner of theCannes Film Festivals Camera dOr Award and the Venice Film Festivals GoldenLion Award for his films White Balloon and The Circle, was first arrested on

30 July 2009, along with documentary filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi, when theyattended a memorial to pay their respects to those who were killed during the

post-election protests. He was released a few days later. Mr. Panahi was arrestedagain on 1 March 2010 at his home, along with 18 family members and friends. Hisfamily and friends were released after a few days, but he remained in detention until

25 May 2010, when he was released on $200,000 bail following reactions from theinternational arts community. On 20 December 2010, the presiding judge sentenced

Mr. Panahi to six years in prison and imposed a 20-year ban on making anddirecting any films, writing screenplays, conducting interviews with the national or

international media and travelling abroad.

44. Film director Mohammad Rasoulof, Mr. Panahis colleague, was also

sentenced to six years in prison. Branch 26 of Tehrans Revolutionary Court citedarticles 500, 610 and 19 of the Islamic Penal Code as the basis for its ruling, listing

charges such as assembly and collusion with the intent to commit a crime againstnational security, and propagating against the Islamic Republic of Iran.


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45. Mohsen Namjoo, a well-known Iranian singer and composer, was sentenced in

absentia to a five-year prison term on 9 June 2009. Mr. Namjoos conviction for thecrime of insulting Islamic sanctities was based on his alleged ridiculing and

unconventional singing about the Koran. He is currently abroad.

5. Lawyers

46. Prominent human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate, Shirin Ebadi, submitted to

the Special Rapporteur a list of 42 attorneys that have faced Governmentprosecution since 2009. She noted that the Government of the Islamic Republic ofIran had been viewing lawyers representing political and ideological defendants

with suspicion in recent years and, as a result, they had had criminal cases filedagainst them. Some of them, such as Houtan Kian, Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi and

Hossein Younesi, were currently in prison. Several others, such as Mohammad AliDadkhah, Khalil Bahramian and Abdolfattah Soltani, were free on bail, and others,

such as Mahnaz Parakand and Nasim Ghanavi, were being interrogated. Ms. Ebadialso stated that the majority of the attorneys faced charges related to their

representation and public advocacy for the rights of defendants in political cases,

and that it was inevitable that, as a result, lawyers in the country would soon losethe courage to defend those individuals.

47. A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was summoned to

Evin prison court on 4 September 2010, where she was arrested and transferred tosolitary confinement. In January 2011, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison, with

a 20-year ban on being professionally active and a 20-year travel ban on charges ofacting against national security, colluding and propagating against the Islamic

Republic of Iran and membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Centre.Almost a year after her arrest, Ms. Sotoudeh, the mother of two young children,remains in Evin prison and is denied furlough. After being told by interrogators that

the appeals court would uphold her 11-year prison sentence, Ms. Sotoudeh withdrewher request for appeal. She has been on several hunger strikes to protest her illegal

detention and violations of her rights. According to information received by theSpecial Rapporteur, Ms. Sotoudehs husband, Reza Khandan, who has publicly

campaigned for fair treatment for his wife, was questioned by the authorities,arrested and reportedly subjected to physical abuse and threats. Ms. Sotoudehs

family members were reportedly physically abused and detained by prisonauthorities in a recent visit to the prison. In protest against the physical abuse and

detention of family members, Ms. Sotoudeh has reportedly stopped receiving familyvisits.

48. Mohammad Seifzadeh, prominent lawyer and co-founder of the Defenders ofHuman Rights Centre, was sentenced on 30 October 2010 to 9 years in prison and a

10-year ban on practising law for acting against national security by establishingthe Centre for Human Rights Defenders. His case is currently under review by an

appeals court. His charges also include collusion and assembly with the intent todisrupt internal security and propagation activities against the regime. He hasreportedly been denied access to his attorney and other due process rights.

6. Environmentalists Save Lake Urmia Campaign

49. Communications regarding escalations in the dispute over threats to LakeUrmia, located between the East and West Azerbaijan provinces of the Islamic


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Republic of Iran, were sent to the Special Rapporteur by several NGOs in August

2011. Environmentalists, as well as residents of two major cities surrounding thelake Urmia and Tabriz argue that the construction of 35 dams built on

21 rivers that feed the lake deprive it of 5.5 billion cubic metres of water annually.This deprivation is said to be the major cause of increasingly low water levels and

salinity of the saltwater lake. It is reported that 8 billion tons of salt will potentiallybe released into surrounding areas if the lake dries up, producing significant flora

and fauna losses and affecting the health and agricultural capacities of an estimated14 million people in the area.

50. Protests calling for action to save the lake after the Iranian Parliament failed topass an emergency bill to raise water levels by diverting water from the Aras River

began in late August 2011. These protests have reportedly resulted in the arrest anddetention of at least 60 individuals for their participation in the protests and injuriesto another 45 protestors as a result of shootings by authorities. Allegations of lack of

access to lawyers, family and medical treatment, torture and other inhuman anddegrading treatment of detained protestors were also received. Faranak Farid, an

activist, journalist and member of the Azerbaijani minority in the Islamic Republic

of Iran, was reportedly tortured after her arrest on 3 September in the city of Tabriz.Ms. Faranak, currently being held in Tabriz prison, is reportedly accused ofinsulting the Supreme Leader, spreading propaganda against the system and acting

against national security. The Special Rapporteur is concerned by claims ofsuppression of guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as

allegations of the deprivation of due process rights.

B. Freedom of assembly

51. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the rightto peaceful assembly. However, several accounts alleging the deprivation of the

right to peaceful assembly include the Governments denial of permits and

intimidation of demonstrations commemorating the anniversary of the June 2009election protests. The Special Rapporteur was made aware of one such incident inwhich members of the Government allegedly denied mourners the right to attend the

funeral of political activist, Ezatollah Sahabi. Accounts suggest that security forcesdisrupted the funeral observances, held in June 2011, by forcibly seizing and

removing Mr. Sahabis body and beating mourners, including Mr. Sahabis daughter,Haleh Sahabi. Ms. Sahabi, also a political activist, was serving a two-year sentence

in prison for spreading propaganda against the regime and disrupting publicorder, but had been released from prison to attend her fathers funeral.

Eyewitnesses maintain that Ms. Sahabi sustained beatings by the security forces,after which she suffered a fatal heart attack.

52. A former member of Mehdi Karroubis presidential campaign who wishes toremain anonymous reported during an interview that, on 30 July 2009, Mr. Karroubi

had attended a memorial service in Behesht cemetery for those who had died in theJune 2009 protests, when police forces reportedly had attacked participants withbatons, pepper spray and tear gas. The witness reported that he had been separated

from Mr. Karroubi while the latter was being severely beaten, but that Mr. Karroubihad been rushed relatively unharmed to his car by his mandatory security detail. The

aforementioned witness also reported another attack on Mr. Karroubi and attendantsat a gathering north of Azadi Square on 11 February 2010. Mr. Karroubi was


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reportedly beaten on his thighs and back and suffered from exposure to tear gas and

pepper spray. One of Mr. Karroubis sons, Ali Karroubi, was arrested along withmany other demonstrators and taken to a mosque for holding. Ali Karroubi was

reportedly subjected to severe beatings in front of the other detainees during hisdetention. It was reported that one arm had been fractured and that he had suffered

from injuries to his back and one eye. He was released 24 hours later.

C. Womens rights

53. The Islamic Republic of Iran ratified the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights without reservations, indicating its intention to promote and protect womens

enjoyment of all civil, political, social and economic rights set out in the Covenants.While article 20 of the Iranian Constitution states that all citizens of the country,

both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human,political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria,

interpretations of how sharia law accommodates gender equality is the subject of

ongoing dialogue between the State and womens rights activists. The SpecialRapporteur contends that the Governments capacity to accommodate democracy,pluralism and gender equality is seriously undermined by the repression of activities

that advance this dialogue.

54. Moreover, the application of certain laws that erect barriers to gender equality

undermine the Governments ability to equally protect those human rights stipulatedin the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for all its citizens. For

example, a womans worth and testimony in a court of law are regarded as half thatof a mans. Men have absolute rights to divorce, while women may initiate divorceonly if they meet certain conditions, some of which must be agreed to in a marriage

contract. Mothers can never be awarded guardianship rights for their children, evenupon the death of their husbands. Women do not have equitable inheritance rights,

and even when a wife is the sole survivor to her husbands estate, she may notinherit more than a quarter of the estate. If she is not the sole survivor, she is limited

to an eighth.

55. Womens rights activists who endeavour to address the aforementioned gender

equality issues seem to have been targeted for their campaigns and activities insupport of womens rights. For example, members of the One Million Signatures

Campaign have routinely been subjected to threats, harassment, interrogations andimprisonment. The Special Rapporteur conducted two interviews with members of

that campaign who wish to remain anonymous. Those individuals reported that theyhad been monitored, arrested, detained and interrogated while blindfolded for

actions related to their student and womens rights activities. They also reportedhaving been threatened with expulsion from university or prevented from pursuingfurther education as result of their activities. In addition, they reported having

endured lengthy periods in solitary confinement during the investigative phases oftheir cases, lack of access to legal counsel and being coerced for the purposes of

incriminating themselves or others known or unknown to them. One of thewitnesses reported having been sentenced in absentia to five years imprisonment

for the encouragement for protests, one year for disseminating propagandathrough media interviews and articles and one year and 74 lashes for acting against

the regime by means of participating in peaceful demonstrations.


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56. Moreover, strict implementation of the morality code concerning dress andattempts to criminalize improper veils have limited womens participation in publicand social arenas. Equally worrisome are statements made by authorities that blamevictims for inducing attackers to violate their physical integrity. These includereports of Government officials citing womens dress as the cause of recent attacks

that took place in Isfahan in June 2011, where 14 women were kidnapped and gang-raped while attending a private party. Government statements asserted that thewomens dress was a source of the violence perpetrated against them and a rationalefor the lack of action in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

57. The case of Bahareh Hedayat, a student and womens rights activist, memberof the Central Council and Spokesperson for the Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdatstudent union and an activist with the One Million Signatures Campaign wassubmitted to the Special Rapporteur. She was reportedly arrested by the Ministry ofIntelligence for the fifth time in four years on 31 December 2009. She wastransferred to Evin prisons ward 209. In May 2010, Ms. Hedayat was sentenced tonine and a half years in prison for assembly and collusion against the regime,insulting the Supreme Leader and insulting the President. The court alsoreactivated an earlier two-year suspended sentence for participating in a 2006

gathering to protest against laws discriminating against women.

58. Mahboubeh Karami, a womens rights activist and member of the OneMillion Signatures Campaign, was arrested on 1 March 2009 and spent 170 days inprison before being released on bail of $500,000. Ms. Karami was sentenced to fouryears in prison. In February 2011, an appeals court reduced her sentence to threeyears. She began her three-year prison term on 15 May 2011 after responding to asummons requiring her to report to Evin prison in Tehran. Ms. Karamis chargesinclude membership in the Human Rights Activists in Iran organization,propagating against the regime and assembly and collusion with the intent tocommit crimes against national security.

D. Religious and ethnic minorities

59. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned by reports of targeted violence anddiscrimination against minority groups. Members of recognized and unrecognizedreligious and ethnic minorities such Arabs, Azeris, Balochs, Kurds, NematullahiSufi Muslims, Sunnis, Bahais and Christians are reportedly facing a wide range ofhuman and civil rights violations. These include encroachment on their rights tofreedom of assembly, association, expression, movement and liberty.

60. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about reports of violations against theBahai community, which, despite being the largest non-Muslim religious minority,does not enjoy recognition as such by the Government. Its members havehistorically suffered multifaceted discrimination, including denial of jobs, pensionsand educational opportunities, as well as confiscation and destruction of property.

According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, at least 100 membersof the Bahai community, including seven community leaders2 are currently

__________________

2 Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saied Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid

Tizfahm, and Mahvash Sabet are the seven members of the Bahai faith who had been detained

since 14 May 2008 and who went on trial on 12 January 2010 for charges including acting

against national security, espionage and spreading corruption on Earth. They have each been

sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.


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imprisoned in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The majority of those detained allegedlyface national security-related charges and have undergone judicial proceedings thatlacked due process and fair trial standards.

61. In addition, recognized religious minorities reportedly face serious constraintsin the enjoyment of their rights and are subjected to severe limitations and

restrictions on the freedom of religion and belief. For instance, the SpecialRapporteur notes that conversion from Islam is still punishable. Articles 13 and 26

of the Constitution recognize Christianity, granting Christians the right to worshipfreely and to form religious societies. Article 14 obligates the Government to uphold

the equality and human rights of Christians. However, Christians in the IslamicRepublic of Iran are reportedly subjected to limitations on their freedom of religion

and various forms of religious discrimination. This is said to be particularly true ofProtestant Christians, most of whom are newly converted. The Intelligence Ministry

is reported to closely monitor Protestant congregations and to routinely summon ordetain members of Protestant groups for interrogations, during which individuals arequestioned about their beliefs, church activities and other church members and are

often urged to return to Islam. In this regard, some Protestants reported having been

threatened by intelligence officials with arrest and apostasy charges if they did notreturn to Islam. This pattern of harassment has reportedly resulted in the operationsof most Protestant churches going underground, where church services and Bible

studies are conducted in private homes.

62. The Special Rapporteur was particularly disturbed by a recent ruling of the

Supreme Court that upheld a death sentence for Yousef Nadarkhani, a Protestantpastor, who was reportedly born to Muslim parents but converted to Christianity

when he was 19 years old. The verdict reads that, unless he decides to renounce hisChristianity, Mr. Nadarkhani will be executed by hanging. This is an emblematic

case of religious intolerance and State-sanctioned violations of the right to freedomof religion and belief, a fundamental freedom guaranteed by international

instruments. Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani, pastor for the Church of Iran in the city ofShiraz, was also detained, in June 2010, and was reportedly held incommunicado in

solitary confinement for approximately two months. Authorities originally chargedhim with apostasy, but later dropped that charge and charged him with blasphemyinstead. He is currently awaiting trial under this charge.

63. Sufi Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran are also subjected to limitations

on their freedom of religion and various forms of religious discrimination. This isparticularly true of members of the Shia Sufi order, Nematollahi Gonabadi.Authorities sentenced Gholam-Abbas Zare-Haqiqi, a Gonabadi leader, to four years

in prison in October 2009, for allowing a burial at Sufi cemeteries, a bannedpractice. On 13 April 2011, authorities arrested eight Gonabadi dervishes by the

names of Abdolreza Kashani, Shokrollah Hosseini, Alireza Abbasi, Ali Kashanifar,Mohammad Marvi, Nazarali Marvi, Ramin Soltankhah and Zafarali Moghimi. The

men had been part of a group of dervishes previously sentenced to five months in

prison, 50 lashes and one years exile on charges of disrupting public order,mainly for assembling in front of the Gonabad Justice Department and prison toprotest the detainment of a leader of the order.

64. Ayatollah Yusuf Saanei is a prominent Shia source of emulation in Qom andhas a track record of issuing fatwas with reformist interpretations. He supported

Mir-Hossein Mousavis candidacy during the 2009 election, and has been a vocal


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critic of the post-election crackdown. Throughout July and August 2009, Ayatollah

Saanei spoke out against detentions, torture, forced confessions and violence againstdissidents and protestors. On 3 January 2010, plain-clothes Basijis reportedly

attacked Ayatollah Saaneis office in the city of Gorgan after he delivered a speechthat criticized the post-election developments in that city. Plain-clothes agents also

reportedly congregated in front of his house in Qom, attacked it and destroyedproperty inside on 13 June 2010.

65. Mowlavi Habiballah Marjani, a teacher and director of seminary studentaffairs at Dar-al-Ulum Seminary, was arrested on 1 May 2011. On 24 May 2011,

Bultan News, an Iranian website known for its close association with intelligencecircles, claimed that Mr. Marjani had been charged with attempts to organize

illegal gatherings. There is no information about Mr. Marjanis whereabouts or hiscurrent condition.

66. Hojataleslam Ahmad Ghabel is a well-known religious scholar and a closeassociate and former student of the dissident cleric Ayatollah Montazeri. On

14 September 2010, Mr. Ghabel was summoned to the revolutionary court inMashhad. When he arrived, he was arrested and transferred to Vakilabad prison in

Mashhad. He was charged for interviews he had given about prison conditions andmass secret executions inside Vakilabad prison. On 31 July 2011, Mr. Ghabel wasordered to report to that prison, where he is currently serving his 20-month sentence.

67. Hojataleslam Mojtaba Lotfi is a young cleric who published his articles inreformist newspapers and websites. He was arrested on the order of the Special

Court for the Clergy in city of Qom on 8 October 2008. He was charged withpublication of lies and production and distribution of articles and writings without

a legal permit. The Court sentenced Mr. Lotfi to four years in prison and five yearsof internal exile on 29 November 2008 and transferred him to Langrood prison in

Qom to serve his term. On 29 November 2009, authorities announced that Mr. Lotfiwould be allowed to spend his evenings, from sunset until next morning at his

home, and that he was required to report to prison every morning. He was arrested

again after participating in Ayatollah Montazeris funeral procession and wassubsequently prosecuted by the Special Court for the Clergy under the charge ofparticipation in Ayatollah Montazeris funeral during a prison furlough. The courtsentenced him to 10 years of internal exile in the city of Ashtian.

68. The Special Rapporteur also received reports of discrimination against Sunni

Muslim sects in the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, Sunnis are reportedly notallowed to build any mosques and houses of worship and are also prevented fromoffering prayers in congregation, especially Eid and Friday prayers. On 29 August

2011, a religious Sunni leader and cleric Shaikh-ul-Islam Mawlana Abdul Hameedasked the Supreme Leader to remove barriers from establishing Eid and Friday

prayers of Sunnis in major cities. He also expressed concern over reports regardingdiscriminative measures of officials by taking written oaths from Sunni scholars in

Tehran to not offer Eid al-Fitr prayers. Furthermore, on 6 February 2011, securityforces reportedly raided a house of worship for Sunnis in Tehran, locked it up and

detained its prayer leader, Mowlavi Musazadeh. He was released on 13 March 2011after posting bail.


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E. Capital punishment

69. The interim report of the Secretary-General to the Human Rights Council

(A/HRC/16/75) documented a dramatic increase in executions recorded in theIslamic Republic of Iran. In addition to serious concerns over the frequency of its

application, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the death penalty is regularlyused in cases where due process rights were denied to the accused. Secret group

executions inside prisons, which reportedly occur in alarmingly high numbers, areoften carried out without the knowledge and presence of families and lawyers.

Public executions, which the Iranian authorities claim have been effective inpreventing crimes, also continue to recur. The Special Rapporteur was particularly

disturbed by the video footage of recent public executions of three personsconvicted of kidnapping and rape in the Azadi Square of Kermanshah on 19 July2011. As seen in the footage, a large crowd, including children, attended the

execution.

70. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur is troubled by reports of the widespreadapplication of the death penalty for crimes that do not meet the international

standard for most serious crimes. According to various sources, including AmnestyInternational, a majority of those executed in 2010 had been convicted of drug-related offences.3 The Human Rights Committee and the Special Rapporteur onextrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions have stated that drug offences do not

constitute a most serious crime for which the death penalty is permissible underinternational law (see A/HRC/4/20, para. 51). Capital punishment was also applied

to cases regardingMohareb or enmity against God, rape, murder, immoral acts oracts against chastity and kidnapping. More than 200 officially announced executions

have taken place in 2011. At least 83 persons, including 3 political prisoners, areknown to have been executed in January 2011 alone. It was also noted that4 per cent of the executions announced by the official Iranian media stipulated no

charges. At least one person has been sentenced for apostasy in 2011, and more than100 officially announced executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2011 were

reportedly for drug-related crimes.

71. Furthermore, authorities reportedly conducted more than 300 secret executions

at Vakilabad prison in 2010. Vakilabad officials, in violation of Iranian law, allegedlycarried out the executions without the knowledge or presence of the inmates lawyers

or families and without prior notification to those executed. It has also been reportedthat at least 146 secret executions have taken place to date in 2011.

72. It has also been reported that more than 100 juveniles are on death row in theIslamic Republic of Iran. In a joint press statement, on 22 September 2011, the

Special Rapporteur, together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summaryor arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and

lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment condemned the public execution by hanging of

17-year-old Alireza Molla Soltani, which was carried out on 21 September in thecity of Karaj. The Special Rapporteurs stressed that any judgement imposing the

__________________

3 According to official judiciary news, Mohammad Bagher Bagheri, Social and Crime Prevention

Deputy of South Khorasan province Judiciary, confirmed the executions of 140 persons in

relation to drug-trafficking during 2010. Official judiciary news, 26 June 2011, available from

http://shorakj.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=1056&ctl=Edit&mid=2234&Code=1762.


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death penalty upon juveniles below the age of 18, and their execution, were

incompatible with the international obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran andcalled upon the Government to institute a moratorium on the death penalty. The

execution of minors, defined as an individual under the age of 18 years at the timethey committed their offence, is prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to both of whichthe Islamic Republic of Iran is a State party. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur is

concerned with the unequal treatment of boys and girls under the penal code, whichcurrently holds girls criminally liable for their actions six years earlier than boys.

F. Detention for relations with foreign entities

73. Omid Kokabi, an Iranian scientist and a postgraduate student at the University ofTexas, has been at Evin prison (wards 209 and 350) since February 2010, when he was

arrested after travelling to the Islamic Republic of Iran to visit his family. His chargesare cited as illegitimate earnings and relations with an enemy state. Prior to his

trial, which was later postponed, Mr. Kokabi wrote a letter to the head of the Iranian

judiciary to report prison abuse, torture and solitary confinement. He also wrote thathe had been arrested for the astounding charge of assembly and collusion againstnational security and was held in solitary confinement for 36 days. Mr. Kokabi wrotethat he had been forced to sign false confessions and to report details about

individuals he may have observed or come into contact with at embassies orconferences. He stated that he had been told that those individuals were Central

Intelligence Agency operatives. He asserts that he has no history of political activityand challenges the legality of his arrest. Mr. Kokabis attorney also reportedly wrote

to the head of the judiciary to declare that he had not had access to his client.

74. The Special Rapporteur conducted an interview with a source that wishes to

remain anonymous regarding the arrest and detention of two physicians andHIV/AIDS experts, Arash and Kamiar Alaei, as well as two of their associates,

Mohammad Ehsani and Silva Harotonian. A review of the courts decision, issuedon 27 January 2004 by the Special Rapporteur, revealed that all four individuals

were charged with committing actions against domestic security by way ofcooperation with the Government of the United States of America. A document

containing the courts decision stated that the United States Government wassuspected of trying to attract and employ elements of non-governmentalorganizations, journalists, bloggers, members of the intellectual and educated class,

scientific leaders, social movements, and students, by creating organic linkages.The document further cites the evidence used to convict the Alaei brothers,

indicating that they had confessed to attending conferences, inviting individuals toparticipate in conferences and developing, coordinating and executing exchange

programmes with entities such as Johns Hopkins University and the Asia Society.

IV. Conclusion

75. The Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize his desire for constructivedialogue with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the international

community and civil society. The Special Rapporteur looks forward to the

challenging responsibility of this mandate and to positive outcomes in the field


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of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has identified a number of

promising starting points for cooperation in the present report, notably in the

implementation of the recommendations of the universal periodic review, treaty

body observations and the findings of other special procedures mandate

holders. He has also catalogued an increasing trend of alleged violations of the

fundamental rights of the people, guaranteed under international law, andstresses the urgency for greater transparency from the Iranian authorities and

closer engagement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the international

community in strengthening human rights safeguards for its citizens.

76. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to open greater spacefor the aforementioned groups of civil society actors to be able to carry out

their work. He also wishes to stress the importance of freedom of expression

and assembly for a democratic, open society governed by the rule of law, and

encourages the Government to refrain from repressing dissent. The Special

Rapporteur would also like to underscore the importance of perpetuating a

culture of tolerance, and urges the Government to prevent discrimination

against women, as well religious and ethnic minorities, in all spheres of public

life and services, and to protect their freedoms to freely associate and expressthemselves.

77. The Special Rapporteur also remains concerned about the well-being andhealth of prisoners, especially those mentioned in the present report, and

encourages the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to launch full

investigations into those cases. He also requests that he be granted the ability to

substantiate accounts raised here through access to both detention centres and

those detained. The Special Rapporteur further requests that the Government

of the Islamic Republic of Iran review those cases and furnish the Special

Rapporteur with information that would enable him to report progress or

developments in those matters to the General Assembly and the Human Rights

Council. He also urges the Government to increase its cooperation with the

special procedures, as this would create a productive space for further actionsto improve the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

78. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the IslamicRepublic of Iran once again requests that he be allowed to visit that country in

order to develop his dialogue with the authorities and either substantiate or lay

to rest, allegations of human rights violations committed within its sovereign

territory.

Sept23-2011-859 Special Rapporteur Report

Documents

Transcript of Sept23-2011-859 Special Rapporteur Report